title: Translational research in pancreatic cancer. Highlights from the "2011 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium". San Francisco, CA, USA. January 20-22, 2011.
abstract: The high mortality rate of pancreatic cancer places this uncommon malignancy quite high as a cause of cancer related deaths. Compared to other solid tumors, there is a lag in the development of new effective drugs and the actual clinical benefit remains poor over the last decade or so. The lack of therapeutic options necessitates the invention of the important molecules playing role in pancreatic carcinogenesis and the development of specific targeted therapies. Treatment advances have to be proven first in the bench before applying them at the bedside, thus why translational research is so needed. At the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, preclinical evidence was presented regarding the efficacy of C4 compound against focal adhesion kinase (FAK) (Abstract #214), the role of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor apricoxib in enhancing the efficacy of gemcitabine and erlotinib (Abstract #227) and the role of curcumin and ABT-888 (a poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor) as potent radiosensitizers (Abstracts #222 and #203). Interestingly, the invention of a novel monoclonal antibody (ensituximab) against the mucin epitope NPC-1C in pancreatic and colon cancer cell lines exhibited notable antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (Abstract #235). Finally, enhanced selective targeting of pancreatic tumors was achieved by combining antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) with radioimmunotherapy (Abstract #206).
authors.affiliation: Oncology Unit, Third Department of Medicine, University of Athens, Sotiria General Hospital. Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Alexios S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Strimpakos
authors.forename: Konstantinos N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Syrigos
authors.forename: Muhammad Wasif
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Saif
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009077:Mucins / Q000276:immunology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000067856:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D000939:Epitopes; D009077:Mucins; D000067856:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011758:Pyrroles; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents; D013449:Sulfonamides; C514354:apricoxib; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D003474:Curcumin